Mental/Personal Situation

Immediate Actions of Col James Sabow

Talked on phone at 8:20 AM with Capt. McBride
Watching tv when received anonymous phone call at 8:30 AM
Placed tv on “mute”
Took dogs from backyard and put them in garage

Direct Experience of Mrs. Sally Sabow

Between 9:20-9:30 wife discovers body in yard
Feels large swelling on back of head
Runs next door, yells “Jimmy is dead”.

Suspicious Actions and Statements of Col Underwood and Wife

Shouted “You will never see a court-martial” when learned of Col Sabow’s intent to demand transparency
Next door neighbor “didn’t hear shotgun blast”
Underwood greets visitor at Sabow front yard at 9:15 AM, states “Sabow not at home” later states “I was going over to see Col. Sabow”
Col. Underwood runs to gate between yards and observes body about 40 to 50 feet away
Calls Gen Adams, says “Jimmy is dead. He shot himself in the mouth”.
Joan Underwood yells,”Joe, this has gone too far!”

Unprofessional or Criminal Complicity of Marine Corps

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FLIGHT RECORDS-no take-offs from 8:30-9 AM

Control Tower witnesses (both Camp Pendleton and El Toro)

Pilot and possibly co-pilot

3-4 Marines as passengers

Failure to maintain integrity of crime scene, vanishing crime scene logbook
Failure to follow up on missing 2″ by 4″ piece of lumber, probable evidence of blunt force trauma
Failure to evaluate all evidence (shot-gun, chair, physical evidence below) with integrity
Failure by General Adams specifically — perhaps as a co-conspirator — to treat death as murder demanding federal investigation

Physical Evidence

Contusion to Head

FACTS:

• An orange-sized contusion existed behind the right ear and extended downward to the neck.

• At autopsy, a massive blood clot was identified within that swollen area and between the scalp and skull. Skull x-rays were taken and showed a large depressed skull fracture under the blood clot with the fragment pressed inward over 3/4 in. deep.

• Since the victim was alleged to have shot himself in the mouth, any displaced fragments should have been blown outward not inward.

• X-rays showed that there were no shotgun pellets nor bone spicules within the blood clot.

CONCLUSION: The swelling (contusion) of the back of the head and the depressed skull fracture is characteristic of an external blunt force applied to the right occipital area of the skull. It is inconsistent with an inta-oral shotgun wound.

Skull X-Rays

Skull x-rays taken at the Orange County Medical Examiner’s facility demonstrated a large depressed occipital skull fracture. These x-rays were reviewed by university medical specialists.

A conference at the University of Minnesota consisting of three Professors of Neuroradiology and three Professors of Neurosurgery evaluated these x-rays and corresponding autopsy photos. Their conclusions were:

•“fracture was from blunt force inflicted to the right posterior skull”

•“the fracture could not have occurred as a result of the gunshot”

•“from a review of the photos, it was apparent that the blunt force occurred prior to death”

Dr. David Rubinstein of the Department of Neuroradiology, Univ. of Colorado Medical School concluded: “the depressed skull fracture is not likely to have resulted from the shotgun blast. The appearance of the soft tissues…should give the best clues as to the cause of the depressed fracture.”

Dr. Dennis Nesbit, neuroradiologist Rapid City Regional Hospital and Clinical Professor, University of South Dakota, concludes: “the skull fracture appears to be overwhelmingly atypical for that caused by a shotgun blast, it is very typical of blunt trauma to the skull.”

• “Respiratory System: large amount of aspirated blood…hemorrhage more marked on the right side …lumens of trachea and bronchi have large amount of aspirated blood”

Fact: It is absolutely impossible to breathe without an intact brainstem. Not even a gasp! This victim was not only brain dead but, was actually, “brain absent”. Furthermore, there was “disintegration of the superior end of the spinal cord.” The victim could not have aspirated blood after being shot!

NB. The blood was not just in the large breathing tubes, the trachea and bronchi, but most was in the alveoli, the tiny air cells. This requires a significant breathing effort!

The victim had to have been very actively breathing blood while he was still alive and, obviously, before he was shot, for death would have been instantaneous after the shot.

Dr. Jack Feldman, Professor of Neuroscience and Chairman of the Department of Physiologic Science at UCLA is recognized as the world’s leading authority on the physiology of respiration. He concludes: “Col.Sabow was rendered unconscious or immobile by a blow to the head that fractured the base of the skull, causing bleeding into the pharynx. Breathing continued after the injury, aspirating blood into the lung. At sometime later, a shotgun was placed in the mouth and triggered (by another party), causing death and obscuring any evidence of prior injury. I conclude that the evidence does not support …a self-inflicted gunshot wound”.

N.B. The x-rays were not available when Dr. Feldman gave his expert opinion. One year later, he reviewed the x-rays with specialists at the UCLA MEDICAL CENTER and commented that the x-ray results are exactly what he expected and predicted!

Blood Stain Evidence

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NIS (aka NCIS) Crime Scene Investigative Report

“it appeared, at the time of the apparent suicide, victim was seated in the patio chair with the shotgun situated / positioned to the right of victim, adjacent to the lateral surface of his right leg. The butt of the shotgun was placed on the ground and the muzzle pointed upward”.

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CONCLUSION:

• Since the blood stains “G” and “H” must be a result of blood from the mouth at the exact time of the shooting, these stains must reflect the position of the body at the time of the shooting.

• The NIS report describes the presumed position of the victim at the instant of the shooting, if the wound was self inflicted

• If self inflicted the blood stains “G” and “H” would have been directed at the patio and could not have been found behind and to the right of the victim

“Blood is one of the most important types of physical evidence of death and violent crime. The careful study of the patterns of blood, location of blood and the volume of blood at a death scene is of paramount importance in distinguishing whether the manner of death was a homicide or a suicide.” “The failure to consider bloodstain evidence when it is present represents a serious ommission in an investigation.” Bloodstain Patterns at Crime Scenes by Stuart James.

•MCAS EL TORO EMT REPORT: J. E. Sabow, 91/01/22 0955

EBL (estimated blood loss) 50 cc

signed: Dr. S. Gibbs, LT MC USNR

FACTS:

• “Contact shotgun wounds of the head are among the most mutilating firearms wounds there are.” From GUNSHOT WOUNDS by Vincent DiMaio, MD. and Medical Examiner of San Antonio, Texas

• Autopsy states: “contact wound of soft palate”

• this blast would have caused a crime scene so bloody that not only the victim but also the adjacent area would be drenched in blood (12% of the entire cardiac output is to the brain)

• the crime scene video and photos, as well as the NIS Investigative Report, clearly document the minimal amount of blood at the crime scene

CONCLUSION: the Estimated Blood Loss at the crime scene of 50cc which is only a bit more than one ounce, means that the victim was dead or near death, without blood circulation when he was shot

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FACTS

NIS CRIME SCENE REPORT: “pajama bottoms and socks…void of blood”

• extensive photos of the victim at the crime scene and the morgue clearly show that the victim’s clothes were almost devoid of blood except the right shoulder of his bathrobe and tee shirt

• no blood was found on the shotgun whose barrel was alleged to have been been jammed against the victim’s soft palate and discharged which should have caused an extremely bloody and mutilating wound

• no blood was found on the chair upon which the victim allegedly sat when he shot himself

• no blood was present on the back of the victim’s left hand that was alleged to have been used to grasp the shotgun barrel while holding it in his mouth

• blood coated the palm of the victim’s left hand and forearm and also a portion of the palm of his right hand, yet there was no blood on the intervening front of the body

• the ground at the crime scene contained only minimal blood stain

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Close-Ups of Right Hand

• Note the blood on the palm of the right hand

• Whether it was the thumb or forefinger that pushed or pulled the trigger, the blood could not have stained the palm with projected or dropped blood. The back of the hand would have received the blood spatter.

• These stains represent blood that was smeared before it dried.

• Blood drops dry completely within 20 minutes.

• Col. Sabow died before 9AM

• His body was discovered at about 9:30AM

CONCLUSION: After he was shot, decedent’s hand was moved by someone else before his body was discovered by Sally Sabow at 9:30AM.

CONCLUSION: After studying the blood evidence, the only possible explanation of the manner of death is shown in the photo of the victim as he was actually found.

• the victim lay dead in this exact position when a shotgun was thrust in his mouth and fired

• a small amount of blood from the pharynx and brain shot out from the entrance wound, spattering the palms and the left forearm which left blood evidence of the actual position of the victim when he was shot

Injuries to Lower Lip

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• Vertical lacerations seen next to both sides of the mouth. The laceration on the left is much smaller but is located and slanted exactly as the laceration on the right side.

• This is evidence that these two lacerations resulted from a common source.

• The intra-cranial and intra-oral explosive gases that resulted from the shotgun blast caused these lacerations.

•Subcutaneous bleeding of lip from left lateral incisor laceration. (C)

•The injuries to the lower lip were the result of biting which caused lacerations and contusions from the upper central and lateral incisors.

•A shotgun barrel in the mouth would prevent the maxillary incisors from contacting the lower lip.

•Furthermore, the shot destroyed the brainstem, the victim was incapable of biting.

CONCLUSION: The victim forcefully bit his lips before he was shot !

Fingerprint Results

A 12 gauge Ithaca double barrelled shotgun was found under the victim. That gun was stored in a scabbard-style gun case on a shelf in a vacant bedroom. If the victim shot himself, he would have had to perform the following tasks:

• remove the gun from the scabbard

• rezipper the scabbard and replace the empty case on the shelf and close the closet door

• carry the gun through the house, open and the close the kitchen door, walk across the patio and open a rear passage door of the garage

• place the gun on a counter in the garage

• open a cabinet and remove a heavy box filled with ammunition and place it on the counter

• select two shells from one of many individual boxes

• break open the shotgun and load the shells into the chamber

• close the shotgun and again place it on the counter

• replace the box of ammunition in the cabinet and reclasp the cabinet

• call the dogs from the yard and lock them in the garage

• carry the gun across the yard where he was alleged to have removed a chair from the patio and carry it to the grass

• sit in the chair, place the butt of the shotgun on the ground next to his right foot and grasp the barrel with his left hand while reaching down with his right to depress the trigger

And Do All Of This Without Leaving One Fingerprint On The Shotgun!

Location of Shotgun Wound

The autopsy report states that there was a contact wound of the soft palate.

FACTS

•the soft palate is one of the most highly sensitive tissues in the body, and is characterized by the “gag reflex” to help prevent choking

•the width of the end of the muzzle of the shotgun is just under two inches

•the width of an adult soft palate and adjacent oral cavity is just over one inch

CONCLUSION: It would be impossible to self-inflict a contact wound to the soft palate. The gag reflex would prevent this. Therefore, self-inflicted intraoral shot gun wounds are to the hard palate which is the roof of the anterior portion of the oral cavity and can result in “blowing off the top of the head”. The victim had to have been unconscious when the shotgun was forcefully jammed into his mouth and fired!

Position of Body at Crime Scene

With no exit wound, the entire energy is expended in tissue destruction and propulsion.

CONCLUSION: The victim, who had no exit wound, and weighed 160 lb was alleged to have been sitting in a light weight patio chair in the middle of a lawn, would have been blown backward in the direction of the long axis of the shotgun. To have fallen forward and to the right, on top of the gun, is inconsistant with the alleged scenario of the victim sitting in the chair, placing the butt end of the gun on the ground next to his right foot with the barrel in his mouth and discharging the weapon.

Homicide or Suicide?

All violent deaths are to be investigated as homicides after accidental causes have been eliminated. ( NIS Manual)

Proof of Suicide: rests primarily on negative evidence: the absence of evidence indicating homicide. (Even a suicide note does not prove that the manner of death was suicide)

Proof of Homicide: rests with the evidence collected at the crime scene, in addition to the evidence collected during a careful evaluation by the Medical Examiner. The cause of death can be determined by the Medical Examiner but the manner of death is to be determined by the Sheriff/Coroner! The manner of death determination requires an evaluation of all the evidence, much of which is not even available to the Medical Examiner.